In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii. The famous volcanic eruption led to many theories and legends, spawning films and documentaries regarding the ancient city.
Not much is known about Pompeii before Vesuviusโ explosion, but the cityโs remains have led to many clues and information regarding the city and its people.
Here are some facts most people donโt know about Pompeii.
1. Thereโs only one firsthand account
Pliny the Younger was only one of many people who witnessed the catastrophic aftermath of Mount Vesuviusโ eruption. He wrote what he experienced, being the only witness to do so. Pliny wrote a letter to Tacitus, describing the second, horrific day of the event:
โA dense black cloud was coming up behind us, spreading over the earth like a flood. โLet us leave the road while we can still see,โ I said, โor we shall be knocked down and trampled underfoot in the dark by the crowd behind.โ
โฆYou could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore.โ
It is possible that there were other records, with Plinyโs the only one discovered so far.


2. The Romans frequented Pompeii for vacation
Summers in Rome could get really hot, and the populated city had its people looking for a place to visit and cool down.
The wealthy Romans preferred extravagant resorts and Pompeii provided their visitors with all the entertainment they needed. There was a large amphitheater and a thriving commercial center where they could find factories, shops, bathhouses, and brothels.


3. Archaeologists discovered brothels
With Pompeii being a popular destination for vacationing Romans, itโs no surprise that there were brothels all over the ancient city as evidenced from the excavations.
The largest brothel was Lupanar. It was situated in the city center and had cubicles with beds and displays of explicit graffiti with a price list for sexual acts.
Erotic wall paintings were a popular choice of art for Pomeiiโs many buildings.


4. There were warning signs before the eruption
The people of Pompeii didnโt notice the many warning signs signaling the eruption.
There were numerous earthquakes, with a big one in 62 AD, but they didnโt make the connection (after all, how could you in those days?).
Before Vesuvius erupted, underground springs began drying up, and fish from the Sarno river floated to the surface thanks to the waterโs increased acidity. All signs point to a volcanic eruption.


5. Vesuvius wasnโt the deadliest in terms of eruption
Pompeiiโs Mt. Vesuvius eruption has been the inspiration for several films, but the explosion of 79 AD is not even on the list of the top five deadliest volcanic eruptions in history.
Historians canโt seem to agree on the actual number of casualties there either. Some say there were 30,000 dead, which in itself is a terrible number.
But Mount Tamboraโs 1815 eruption in Indonesia killed approximately 80,000 people.


6. Pompeii was discovered then buried again
Buried beneath a thick layer of ash for more than 1,500 years, workers digging a water channel in the late 16th century unearthed frescoes and an inscription of the city leading to Pompeiiโs discovery.
The famous Italian architect Domenico Fontana examined the workersโ discovery but was unable to say which city it was lying underneath all that ash. Pompeii remained buried for another 150 years until in the late 1740s when Charles of Bourbon, king of Naples, ordered the proper excavation of the site.


7. Frescoes revealed Pompeiiโs culture
There arenโt many sources revealing life in Pompeii before the famous explosion of Mt. Vesuvius. However, Pompeian society could be understood by the detailed frescoes inside the city walls.
Those frescoes are well-preserved, even showing differences in the skin tones of men and women in the paintings. The men are golden bronzed, while women have alabaster tones and jewelry surrounded by fine furnishings.
Scholars and historians say that women of Pompeii cultivated pale skin to show their higher rank in society. These are the women who clearly didnโt need to go outside during the day.


8. It was the heat, not the ash, that killed Pompeians
While historians canโt seem to agree on a death toll, they do agree that it was not the ash that killed the cityโs inhabitants. Before, some had assumed they suffocated on the ash.
New studies now suggest that it was the extreme heat that was responsible for the deaths instead. Italian scientists have concluded that residents of Pompeii may have experienced temperatures well over 1,000 degrees.


9. Citizens had perfect teeth
Pompeiiโs victims were cast in plaster in the 1800s for protection. That made study difficult for scientists of the time, but todayโs technology (like multi-layer CT scans) allows scientists to make 3-D reconstructions of the skeletons.
The scans made for interesting revelations of Pompeiiโs residents, most especially their teeth. Their good diet, which was rich in fruits and vegetables, included high levels of fluorine around the volcano.


10. Citizens had no word for โvolcanoโ
Pompeii immediately conjures up images in our heads of an ancient city destroyed by a volcanoโs fury. But Pompeiiโs residents never knew what a volcano was.
When Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, there was no word for โvolcanoโ as that particular word came about after Mt. Etna erupted in the 1610s. The word finds its origin in โVulcan,โ the Roman God of Fire.


11. An incredibly preserved man
A man buried in a tomb east of Pompeii was so remarkably preserved that he still had his white hair, ear, and bones. Researchers from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and the University of Valencia called their find โone of the best-preserved skeletons ever found in the ancient city.โ
The man in the tomb at the necropolis of Porta Sarno was named Marcus Venerius Secundio. He was once a slave but was able to achieve a higher social standing. Secundioโs bone analysis revealed he was around 60 during his burial. A โhermetically sealedโ tomb was unusual for this time since most adults were cremated.
The tombโs inscription referred to โGreek and Latin ludi [performances]โ leading to the discovery that entertainment took place in both Greek and Latin languages. The tomb also contained glass vessels and fabric fragments.
Realmente, poner nombre de forma inequรญvoca a unos restos romanos me parece algo impresionante. ยฟNo os parece a vosotros?
Marco Venerio Secundio pic.twitter.com/O3gwBJxM6H
โ Antigua Roma al Dรญa (@antigua_roma) August 18, 2021
12. Graffiti was a trend in
Think of graffiti as a kind of ancient โsocial media,โ with Pompeians expressing themselves on walls instead of screens.
The wall of a brothel contained words that read, โMyrtis, you suck well.โ They were an expressive bunch.


13. People attempted to mask up in order to survive the eruption
The people of Pompeii had nowhere to run and covering their faces was their last attempt at survival.


14. The remains of an escaping man show the horror of trying to flee
2,000 years after the initial explosion, the remains of a man who looked like he was fleeing the eruption were discovered by archaeologists. The skeleton was stuck under a large rock. Lesions on the bones seem to suggest an infection that may also have impaired the man (though really he was doomed no matter what).
The man may have survived until he was pinned to the ground by the block, caused by the force of the volcano sending it through the air. In the end, the fleeing man perished from asphyxiation within a superheated cloud of rock and ash.


15. Mount Vesuvius may have erupted on a different date
The original date of the eruption has always been recorded as August 24, 79 AD, and itโs a date most historians agree with thanks to other written sources of people who saw the eruption from afar. But a house in Pompeii had a date scribbled in charcoal, leading experts to believe that the volcano may have erupted two months later than the agreed date.
The writing on the walls was dated to 16 days before the โcalendsโ of November. That means it was written on October 17, according to our contemporary calendar system.
โSince it was done in fragile and evanescent charcoal, which could not have been able to last long, it is highly probable that it can be dated to the October of AD 79,โ the archaeology team said in an official statement.
So did he get his date wrong, or did we?


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